The course website and blog for the Fall 2015 instance of Penn State's SC200 course

Do batting gloves help a baseball player?

Growing up playing baseball, I used batting gloves and at times I did not use batting gloves. In little league and all throughout high school I never really thought about whether I had a better batting average with one or the other so I figured that I would look into it a little further.

Even in Major League Baseball, some players choose to wear batting gloves and others choose not to. For example, Jorge Posada says, “The way the bat feels in my hands; I like to feel the pine tar, I like to feel the dirt, I like to feel the tape I put on the bat, and I like to feel the wood on the bat” (NY Times). He is one of the players that has a preference not to wear them because he says the feel is much better and that gives him an advantage. Another player, Moises Alou, says that he likes to not wear batting gloves because it stings him if the ball hits the wrong part of the bat and that is his incentive to make better contact (NY Times).

Although the players that say batting gloves give them a better feel, players who do use batting gloves say some of the same things about feel and connectedness with the bat and their hands. A scientist says that the, “gloves may help some batters by giving a more secure feel to the grip early in the swing — that is when aiming counts because once the swing is under way, it is too late to fine-tune the bat’s trajectory” (NY Times). This shows that it comes down to personal preference because both the players that wear them and the players that do not wear them both say that their choice helps them.

Other than feel, do batting gloves serve any other purpose? Yes, says Cal Ripken Jr. who played for the Baltimore Orioles. He says that one little slip of the bat in your hands will affect your grip and in turn cause you not to make perfect connection with the ball. This would cause the ball to travel shorter distances, if the ball is hit at all (Baltimore Sun).

Summing up whether or not batting gloves have any additional benefit, it depends on what each individual player likes and what feels the most comfortable for that player. There are other ways, such as using dirt or pine tar, in order to prevent the bat from slipping out of your hands.

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2 thoughts on “Do batting gloves help a baseball player?”

I have often wondered why some baseball players wear gloves and some don’t. If you watch a major league game these days, most players wear batting gloves. It’s the same with golfers. The majority of the season is in the summer, so they sweat a lot and run the risk of the bat slipping.

I played softball for most of my life and was very passionate about it through high school. This blog is relatable to me and I think it was cool that you did some research on this subject. When I bat, I do not wear batting gloves because I used to hate the way they felt on my hands. Almost every girl on my team however wore batting gloves and would question why I wouldn’t. It is good to know that wearing batting gloves or not wearing them has no big effect on the player’s success. I liked your use of images and how you summed everything together.